March 5 I 20082

March 5 I 20083

Photo © Dinodia Photo Library/Dinodia Images

Anil Dave, Ashvin Mehta, M.Amirtham, Milind Ketkar, Manoj Navalkar, Nitin Kelvalkar,R.K.Makharia, H.R.Modi, Suraj Sharma, Sunil Kapadia, Viren Desai, Akash Banerjee, Sudharak Olve

March 5 I 20084

With almost 74 per centof its population livingin rural India, it’s hard

to deny that the real India residesin its seven million-odd villages. Sofor visitors to really experience thiscountry, they would have to go be-yond the star hotels and live in themud houses.

India’s Ministry of Tourism hasidentified this aspect as a product,which while offering an unforget-table experience to visitors, alsoserves as a tool to revive the ruraleconomy. This happened in2002 when India announcedits new tourism policy that wasinitiated with the purpose ofpromoting rural tourism sothat economic benefits fromtourism can reach the rural re-gions. Of course, this requireswork – first develop rural tour-ism, improve accessibility andthen promote it while ensuringthat the benefits are channeledback to these areas.

Developing rural tourismusually means showcasing theethnic arts, crafts, culture andlifestyle in its traditional setting,farm tourism, eco-tourism, andproviding a platform for touriststo experience this. It also meanspromoting the concept of home-stays in the host community. Moreimportantly, however, success liesin how well the rural youth is trainedin dealing with international anddomestic tourists and maintainingtourism sites.

Development and partnershipThe ministry has identified 125

rural tourism sites so far and hasassociated itself with the UnitedNations Development Programme(UNDP), which is confined to 36sites. According to the ministry, itis using this initiative to increasethe number of sites and has alreadysanctioned 125 sites. It is alsopartnering with NGOs in this re-gard.

The ministry gives financial assis-tance to the state governments forprojects after identifying key areasfor development. The implementa-tion is done through a convergencecommittee headed by a district col-lector and activities like improvinghygiene, protecting the environmentand building infrastructure are eli-gible through this scheme. Thefocus is also on tapping the re-sources available under differ-ent schemes of the departmentfor rural development, stategovernments and other con-

cerned depart-ments of the Indian government.UNDP invests Rs 20 lakh per site forprojects that it develops and the restis taken care of by the ministry. It hasallocated Rs 70 lakh per site to thedistrict collectors for the remaining89 sites.

Ties with tradeSo far, the ministry has partnered

only with UNDP for rural tourism.Leena Nandan, joint secretary, min-istry of tourism, however says that,there is nothing that bars it frompartnering with the trade. “We workwith the trade and industry partners

very closely. For example, when welaunched and inaugurated thePochampally project as a rural tour-ism site, the minister had taken touroperators with her. Now, the trade istaking tourists to Pochampally. Thetrade is with us every step of the wayand they have been very responsive.”

In fact, it is also be-ing promoted by almostall adventure and na-ture tour operators.

Mandip Singh Soin, MD of Ibex Ex-peditions, says, “We have been intorural tourism long before the minis-try announced it, almost since themid-90s. We have worked withNGOs and promoted the same in theHimalayan areas and places likeRajasthan. The ministry, however, hasdone a good thing byinstitutionalising it. What we do nowis weave it in our itineraries in such a

way that it becomes an important partof our packages.”

When asked whether rural tourismis a profitable proposition for touroperators like him, Soin says, “It isprofitable in the sense that it addsvalue to the experience of a tourist.It is for a good cause – the revenueearned goes to the grassroots, allow-ing our crafts to develop. For instance,in Kumaon we are involved with aWar Widow project where women tryand become economically indepen-dent by weaving shawls. We are asso-ciated with it even though it is publicdomain.” Realising its potential, thenewly-formed eco-tourism societyhas enlisted it as an important activ-ity. There is still one bottleneck how-ever, an absence of a proper conclaveby the ministry telling the industry ofhow to find linkages.

Nevertheless, the ministry has beencontinuously working towards thiscause and has launched a new mar-keting campaign. Its theme – thecolours of India. Nandan says, “Inboth international and domestic cam-paigns, we have synchronised colours

with the product where mustard yel-low is rural tourism. We also have adedicated website to promote ruraltourism. Apart from this, we areorganising a mega shopping festivalfor the first time that will integrate

Ruralism takes rootrural tourism with handcrafts.”

This festival will be hosted on ro-tation basis according to the regionand the first one is scheduled forBhubaneshwar that will be inaugu-rated by the minister. “We will beginwith four festivals and increase it intime, taking it to Hyderabad andAurangabad. Every festival will inte-grate rural tourism with shopping fes-tivals,” reveals Nandan. The ministryis currently earmarking funds for thisand is working on the cost. This cam-paign will be launched shortly and willbe run on both electronic and printmedia.

Low investment, high valueAlthough there is no accurate in-

formation on the tourist arrival fig-ures to rural India, it has been esti-mated that there has been an eight toten per cent increase in arrivals onan average to these sites after thelaunch of the rural tourism scheme.

In terms of revenue, the ministrydoes have specific information. Forinstance, Hodka in Gujarat recordedearning of about Rs 8 lakh while avillage in Raghurajpur generated anincome of about Rs 15 lakh becauseof rural tourism. “One of our sites in

Kerala has received a PATAaward. So far, rural tour-ism has been a successstory and there are moremarketing initiatives in

the pipeline. We are doing online pro-motions too, producing literature andputting it up as a new concept. Weare really pulling our socks up andpromoting event-centric rural tour-ism,” adds Nandan.

Tourism as a service where an intangible experience is being sold is acombination of several services and intermediaries and the revenue spent bythe traveller is circulated in the national and regional bracket. But when it iscirculated in the local boundary, the benefits largely remain in the area itselffor use of uplift. This becomes especially significant in a rural terrain. Thus,the concept of rural tourism and benefiting from it came to being. Realisingthis aspect, India’s Ministry of Tourism is now going back to its roots andbringing rural tourism to the fore. By Jyoti Koul

This is being looked upon as alow investment-high turnovermodel. “We did not start with thatidea. What we were looking at isways in which we could benefit thecommunity. So even when we areinvesting in building roads and in-frastructure, it is an asset and willbenefit the local communitieswhether tourists come or not.Money is not at all a constraint butwe do not want to turn these sitesinto urban jungles. We want to re-tain its flavour and traditions whileimproving basic conditions,” shesays.

Case StudyKarnataka tourism can be likened

to a sleeping giant which has justwoken up to the immense potentialit has. It ranks fourth with 27 mil-lion domestic arrivals and 0.62 mil-lion international arrivals. Its 21wildlife sanctuaries, five natural re-serves, two World Heritage Sites andworld famous waterfalls is proof thatthe state’s tourism potential lies inits countryside, away from the bus-tling cities. As part of its rural tour-ism project, the Ministry of Tour-ism, Government of Karnataka inpartnership with UNDP has identi-fied Anegundi and Banavasi in northKarnataka to be developed for tour-ism.

The ancient city of Banavasi, ear-lier the capital of the Kadamba king-dom, has found references inMahabharata. An amount of Rs 55lakh has been sanctioned by the gov-ernment of India for its developmentunder the Rural Tourism Project.According to the state’s tourism de-partment, this amount would beutilised for developing: establishingtourist clubs for information, devel-oping the transport system, im-provement of roads, illumination ofvillage, developing signage, con-struction of amphitheatre, and solidwaste management.

The government has also sanc-tioned Rs 20 lakh of which Rs 16.00lakh were released for facilitatingtraining, setting up information cen-tres, health, sanitation and herbalmedication preparation and creat-ing awareness on environment andcleanliness for school children andresidents.

Anegundi, which is part of theWorld Heritage Site is the secondproject in Karnataka to be identi-fied under the Rural Tourism Project.According to the tourism depart-ment, Rs 54.80 lakh has been sanc-tioned by the Government of Indiaand Rs 40 lakh released for the de-velopment of Anegundi. Thesefunds would be used for beautifica-tion and maintenance purposes,waste management, water conserva-tion, setting up signage, promotinglocally-made crafts and souvenirshops, landscaping and tourist ac-commodation. ■

The quintessential drunk, before getting over a terrible

hangover, says with supreme confi-dence: “If I knew how to count, Iwouldn’t have had so many.” The situ-ation with regard to statistics con-cerning the Tourism sector in Indiais hardly different. This alibi, thoughnot verbalized, finds its way unob-trusively into the numbers game.

Crystal ball gazing is somethingthat can often yield pro-rata conclu-sions. Even in well-established com-panies, this fixation for conclusionsthat are based on numerical averagesis common, if not a country-wideobsession. The saving grace is thatit gives the impetus for optimism,particularly when hopes seem to havebeen in hibernation for long.

In India, reputed business houses,esteemed publications, respectedmedia houses and conservative gov-ernment communiqués regularly doleout statistics that paint India in very

bright colours. The sheer numbersgive a tremendous boost to our mo-rale, so much so that nobody dares tobracket India among developing coun-tries these days. To lay it on thick,India does lend money to Third Worldcountries.

Unlike in the sunrise sectors likebiotechnology, pharma, auto, elec-tronics or ICT, tourism has the in-your-face kind of effect, because In-dia is always there to be experienced,not just described in words or num-bers. Therefore, the conclusions onereaches about what India can offertravelers, ought to come from theheart without being influenced by thenumbers out there. Tourism can le-verage, in more ways than one, India’sgrowing strength in the areas of IT,Energy, Textiles, Pharmaceuticals,Biotechnology, Agriculture, UrbanDevelopment, Education, Healthcareand the like.

Going by statistics put out by the

NUMBERS COUNT,if if if if if you read between the lines you read between the lines you read between the lines you read between the lines you read between the lines

World Travel & Tourism Council, In-dia Travel & Tourism is expected togrow in nominal terms to INR 9,472.7bn (US$ 158.9 bn) by 2017. The To-tal demand is expected to grow by7.9% per annum in real terms between2008 and 2017. India’s T&T Indus-try is expected to rise in nominalterms to INR 2,551.3 bn or US $42.8bn (1.9% of total) by 2017.

India’s T&T Economy employ-ment is estimated at 25,607,000 jobsin 2007, 5.5% of total employment,or 1 in every 18.3 jobs. By 2017, thisshould total 28,322,000 jobs, 5.2%of total employment or 1 in every 19.1jobs. The 11,003,000 Travel & Tour-ism Industry jobs account for 2.3%of total employment in 2007 and areforecast to total 11,654,000 jobs or2.2% of the total by 2017.

Many such assumptions reducedto bare numbers, distorted or other-wise, are doing the rounds. After sam-pling these numbers if one tries tosmugly conclude that India is desti-nation one for tourists across theworld, the complacency is question-able. However, if one considers allsuch statistics in light of what Indiahas actually achieved in the past fewyears, the outcome will soundpractical. India does have its shareof good. A lot however, remains tobe done, to set right the bad. Nodoubt, a start has been made in termsof launching tourism initiatives. Some of the initiatives have trans-lated goals into achievements. Defi-nitely, there is hope – one that assuresa better tomorrow.

The beginning was good. Now weare somewhere in the middle. Get-ting noticed is in itself a milestonefor India. Far from being an under-dog, today India can stand up and becounted in the glare of worldtourism. ■

ITB Berlin: Travel HubThe whole world meets at the ITB,

Berlin: People, working in the travelindustry and people, who want tocatch up on the most beautiful traveldestinations. The combination oftrade exhibition, public exhibitionand the biggest professional conven-tion worldwide attracts tens of thou-sands of visitors, exhibitors and me-dia representatives every year. TheEvent : 5th March to 9th March.

Last year an outstanding discus-sion event on climate protection atthe ITB Future Days ensured that theglobal travel trade’s largest conven-tion drew widespread industry atten-tion to the topic of climate changeand tourism. At the ITB Berlin 2008the focus will again be on the envi-ronment. About 12 events on climateprotection and sustainability will betaking place at this year’s ITB BerlinConvention Market Trends & Inno-vations.

ITB Future Day – adaptingto new realities

At the ITB Future Day, UNWTOGeneral Secretary FrancescoFrangialli and the subsequent discus-sion round to be moderated byGeoffrey Lipman will set the stage for

a climate debate. Among those at-tending will be ministers, CEOs ofairlines, the hotel trade and decision-makers.

ITB Hospitality Day –environment concepts ofhotel trade

The main topics at the HospitalityDay on Thursday, March 6 will in-clude environmental concepts of the

hotel trade, which an event under theheading of ‘Green Hotels’ will exam-ine. Are these concepts merely a mar-keting gag or will they have a lastingimpact?

Destination forums –climate protection andsustainability

On Thursday, March 6 a sessionunder the heading of ’Progress intourism research’, co-organised byDeutsche Gesellschaft fürTourismuswirtschaft, will be intro-ducing particularly successful meth-ods for developing unique and effec-tive destination products. Also onMarch 6, leading figures will be tak-ing part in an event on the subject ofsustainable tourism in the Mediter-

ranean.

Africa Forum – zerofootprint tourism

Do travellers from industrial na-tions honour zero footprint projectsin Africa? What does a zero footprinttourism infrastructure look like? TheAfrica Forum will be taking up thesetopics on Thursday, March 6.

ITB Aviation Day – iscommercial aviationdestroying our climate?

On Friday, March 7 at the ITBAviation Day, the showcase event forthe global aviation industry, there willbe a dual focus on this highly contro-versial topic, with high-ranking fig-ures attending the Solar Impulse fo-rum chaired by Dr Bertrand Piccard.

New – the ADAC TourismForum

On March 7, the ADAC TourismForum will be taking place for the firsttime at the ITB Berlin. Leading ex-perts from the tourism and transportindustry will be taking part in thedebate under the heading ‘Tourismby car in the age of climate change’.■

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it. The entry of foreign players hasresulted in a healthy competitionwithin the industry benefiting boththe industry and the consumer, asthey’re experiencing the improvedlevel of services.

Booming Aviation SectorThe booming aviation industry in

India is not only benefiting domestictravelers but also the internationaltourists who are coming to India. Ar-rival of low cost airlines has resultedin decline of airfare as well as increasein the connectivity to various loca-tions across India, which are not be-ing catered to by other airlines.

These low fare airlines have re-sulted in a decrease of up to 10%-20% in the total traveling packages.These airlines offer discounts up to35%-50% on airfare for advancedbooking up to one month to twomonths. These low cost airlines areone of the key factors responsible for

The Drivers

Government Infrastructure Sup-port

The Indian tourism industryholds immense potential for provid-ing impetus to other industriesthrough backward and forward link-ages and can generate huge revenueearnings for the country. In the re-cent 2007-08 budget, the provisionfor building tourist infrastructurehas been increased from US$ 95.6Million in 2006-07 to US$ 117.5 Mil-lion in 2007-08.

100% FDI in Real EstateIn an effort to encourage foreign

investment, the Indian governmentmodified its restrictive laws in Feb-ruary 2005 to allow 100% FDI (For-eign Direct Investment) to developnew housing, commercial properties,hotels and hospitals. Foreign inves-

tors aren’t allowed to buy buildingsalready standing or undevelopedland. India also allows foreign fundsto own stakes of as much as 24% inthe nation’s publicly traded real es-

tate companies.The lifting of restrictions over the

FDI has not only helped in improv-ing the hospitality industry’s infra-structure, but the level of services of-fered by various players operating inthe industry was also improved with

India-Disposable Incomeper Head (in US$), 2001-2006

India-Comparison of Medical Treatment Cost with UK (in US$)

India-Share in GlobalForeign Tourism (%), 2006& 2010F

India-Forecast for Disposable Income per Head(in US$), 2007-2011

Aviation Turbine Fuel PriceComparison (in US$), 2006

Indian Tourism IndustryForecast (2007-2011)

India-Infrastructure Support from Govern-ment (in Million US$), 2006-07 & 2007-08

A Report by RNCOS

increasing domestic tourism, as thetravel budget or cost of travel pack-ages offered by various tour opera-tors across the country have dra-matically declined due to reducedcost of transportation.

Growing Economic Activity inIndian Subcontinent

With the booming economy in In-dia and growing economic activitiesacross the Indian subcontinent, busi-ness travel has also increased acrossthe region. During 2005 and 2006,India along with China accountedfor almost 35% of the business tripsin the region. Perceived as a servicehub across the globe, India has at-tracted a large number of globalcompanies to set-up their base here.This has resulted in increased flowof business travelers in the country.

Increased Competition in HotelSector

A number of multinationals haveeither entered or strengthened theirpresence in the hotel sector in In-dia. Players like Four Seasons arealso likely to enter the Indian mar-ket in the future. Besides, Indianhotel chains are also expected toexpand their international presence.

A combination of all these fac-tors is expected to result in a strongemergence of the budget hotels.This would potentially lower the costof travel and related costs.

Incredible India’ CampaignAn increase in the number of

tourists in the past years is the re-sult of various aggressive marketingcampaigns by the ministry of Tour-ism, India.

The ‘Incredible India’ campaigncertainly clicked with foreign tour-ists -over the past two years, touristarrivals in India grew at a steady13.92% annually from 2004 to 2006.The number of tourist arrivals in2004 was 3476632, which increasedto 4512098 in 2005. In 2005, Indiawas ranked fifth on the Conde NastTravelers Readers Travel Awards2005 list -up from the 11th slot threeyears earlier.

Personal Disposable IncomePersonal disposable income per

head increased with the CAGR valueof 10.11 % for the period spanning2001-2006. This increasing dispos-able income has given thrust to bothoutbound and domestic tourism inIndia.

Opportunities

Medical TourismThe cost advantage with no com-

promise on the quality of servicemakes India a more preferred desti-nation for treatment. For example,if Open heart Surgery costs morethan US$ 18,000 in UK and doublethat in the US, a few Indian hospi-tals, such as Global in Hyderabad,have the wherewithal to do it inaround US$ 4,500. The followingtable shows the cost comparison ofdifferent treatments in India and inUnited Kingdom in terms of US$.

Procedure charges for many sur-geries in India are cheaper in com-parison to the US. The difference incost can range from 50% to 70% inmost of the surgical procedures.

Budgeted HotelsThe Indian hotel industry is bi-

ased towards luxury five-star hotels,with business travelers constituting

the bulk of their clientele. However,there has been a sharp increase in theimportance of four-star hotels overthe years. This is because there is ahuge and growing market for “bud-get” hotels catering to the large num-ber of domestic and internationaltravelers who cannot afford to stay infive-star hotels, but would still preferto have good facilities.

Online TourismThe online booking of tickets, ho-

tels, and resorts provides opportuni-ties to travel portals for cashing in onthe booming demand for hotel rooms.There has been a surge in hotel book-ing on travel portals in the past.Online travel industry is a US$ 800

Million industry in India.Commonwealth Games -2010 &

Cricket World Cup -2011India will host the Commonwealth

Games in 2010 and the Cricket WorldCup in 2011. The events are ex-pected to increase both inboundtourism and domestic tourism in thecountry.

With more than ten million foreign

visitors expected to visit India forwatching the events, India’s share inglobal foreign tourism would go upalmost 1.5% in 2010 as compared tojust 0.54% in 2006.

Outbound & Domestic TourismAs said earlier, the personal dis-

posable income is one of the signifi-cant drivers of the tourism industry.Per head disposable income will in-crease with the CAGR value of10.69% for the period spanning2007-2011.

Increasing disposable income willdefinitely open the opportunities forthe outbound as well as domestictourism.

Challenges

Soaring Real Estate PricesUnremitting increase in real estate

prices across India, especially in tier1 and tier 2 cities, is posing as a bar-rier for organizations willing to en-ter the Indian hospitality sector.

The developers and hoteliers areforced to build lucrative luxury ho-tels rather than much-neededeconomy class hotels. Due to the in-creasing real estate prices, investmentin economy class hotels will yield alow rate of return and longer break-even period as compared to luxuryhotels, which result in higher returnsand shorter break-even period.

Infrastructure ConstraintsOne of the biggest challenges faced

by Indian tourism sector is the infra-structure constraints that range fromtransportation facilities, connectivityto a specific destination, and techno-logical constraints such as absence ofproper communication facilities inrural areas (rural tourism).

There are many villages across thecountry, which can emerge as touristdestinations and can be foreign ex-

change earners for the Indianeconomy, but prevailing infrastruc-ture constraints are acting as a hin-drance for the growth of tourism in-dustry in rural India.

Insufficient Hotel RoomsWith the booming tourism indus-

try and the upcoming Common-wealth Games in 2010, there exists ademand-supply mismatch in terms ofavailability of hotel rooms in differ-ent categories (both Luxury and Bud-geted). There exists an immediate re-quirement of approximately 100,000new hotel rooms but only 75% of thisdemand would be met by the projectsthat are currently underway. Thiscomes as a challenge for the tourismindustry. The insufficient number ofhotel rooms will give an impressionof non-professionalism to the inter-national tourists and they may dropthe idea of revisiting the country.Moreover, it will tarnish the image ofthe country of being a ‘tourist desti-nation with all facilities in place’.

Susceptible to Geo-PoliticalEvents

Since tourism is a global phenom-enon, any adverse development onthe geo-political front is likely to im-pact global tourist flows. India is noexception to the same, as was evidentduring events like September 11, Iraqwar and SARS.

Fierce CompetitionUndoubtedly, there is fierce com-

petition among Asian countries fortourist dollars. India’s new tourismcompetitors are China, Vietnam,Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand.

These countries are putting morestrategies in force to earn more in-come by developing new destinations.Laos launched its own ‘Visit Year’ in2006.

Vietnam is attracting tourists withworld heritage sites and China is fur-

ther opening up for tourism. Mean-while, traditional rivals -Singapore,Hong Kong, Malaysia, South Korea,and New Zealand -have been work-ing on more destination highlights.

Tour operators expect a tough yearahead as inbound business could suf-fer due to the lack of new destina-tions compared to emerging neigh-boring countries, while hitting out-bound business.

Though India features varioustourist attractions and a good imagein terms of safety and cheap destina-tions, repeated visitors are apparentlybecoming bored and exploring otherchoices in neighboring countries.

High Input CostThe input costs in India are high

as compared to other parts of theworld. The high input costs are pos-ing as one of the barriers for variousairlines in India.

Like fuels costs in India are 50%higher than ‘other locations. ATFprices in India continue to be farhigher than global rates, making ATFaccount for 35% -40% of operatingcost, as against global average of 20-25%. ■

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March 5 I 20087

Sheila Dikshit, the Chiefminister of Delhi iscommitted to make Delhia truly global city thatevery Indian could beproud of. She illustratesher plans for Delhi’stourism.

I would not like to believe thatDelhi is a transit point. Delhi is a hotseat of power and it is one of the old-est cities where culture comesalive. It is a perfect blend of tradi-tions and modern urban culture. Ithas good infrastructure too, in termsof roads, educational institutions,health facilities, some awesome ar-cheological monuments, garden andparks and now its latest attraction isthe metro rail. I have observed thatpeople from far off places come visit-ing Delhi. It has a vibrant culture.Also Delhi is like a mini India whereyou see reflections of each and everypart of our country.

There are endless things that havebeen done to make Delhi a betterplace. In the last few years, due to theintroduction of CNG, vehicular pol-lution has gone down considerably.We have focused on providing goodhealth centres; we have very goodeducational institutions too. Overallinfrastructure is good. Our bread andbreakfast scheme is doing very well.■

Naveen Patnaik, ChiefMinister, Orissa says thatthe state is a touristhaven and focus iscurrently on tourisminfrastructure.

As far as tourism potential is con-cerned, Orissa is rich and diverse. Tobegin with eco-tourism, we couldspeak about three eco-tourism areas.Chilka Lake, Bhitar Kanika and

Simlipal. As for monuments and his-torical buildings, Orissa has the worldheritage temple - the Sun Temple ofKonark near the beach and the greatSri Mandir, the temple to LordJagannath at Puri where a million pil-grims arrive at the annual Rath yatra.We are very rich in handicrafts andhandlooms too, which are famous inmany parts of the world.

Our government, which has beenin power for the last eight years, hasimproved the infrastructure within

G. Sudhir, PrincipalSecretary, Tourism,Government of AndhraPradesh outlines thegovernment’s role in theuplift of tourism inAndhra Pradesh.

The government has recognisedtourism as one important sector andalso as a growth engine for theeconomy. Andhra Pradesh is en-dowed with a rich history and heri-

the state. The roads to the Golden Tri-angle, which is from Bhubaneswar toKonark, and then along the MarineDrive to Puri on to Chilka Lake andback to Bhubaneswar have been im-proved tremendously. We have alsomade roads to famous Buddhist cir-cuits which lie in Jajpur, Cuttack andKendrapara. We are currently focus-ing on building infrastructure to theplaces which could be wonderful re-sorts. ■

Andhra Pradesh

Orissa

Delhi Jammu &KashmirThe Rainmakers

They are the people, who in their best of capacity, have brought significant changes in their respectivestates and continue to bring in contemporary ideas and ensure their implementation as well. Theyrepresent states which have excelled in the tourism sector and created a new dimension to the wholeconcept itself. Here, informally, we title them the Rainmakers – those who are known for achievingexcellent results in a profession or field, such as business or politics. Their views...

IM Vittalamurthy,Secretary KarnatakaTourism has big plansfor the state and isfocussed on the wayahead.

Over the last couple of years, thestate has realised the significance of

After the drasticreduction in touristtraffic in late 80s andearly 90s, the state ofJammu & Kashmir is nowwitnessing a turnaroundin tourism, says NaeemAkther, Secretary, J&KTourism.

Tourism is one of the three coresegments of the economy of Jammu& Kashmir – the other two beinghandicrafts and horticulture. Thefragile eco-system of the state, whichis its USP and needs to be conserved,is not apt for heavy industries andthese three industries are perfectlysuitable for the local environment.

While all the world knows aboutthe Dal Lake, the Mughal Gardens,Gulmarg & Pahalgam - Brand Kash-mir is all set to be expanded as newdestinations are being brought on tothe tourism map.

A newly added attraction, whichis poised to gain celebrated status andbecome the next-big –thing in thetourism annals of Jammu & Kashmir,is the Tulip Garden in Srinagar. It willsoon be one of the biggest tulip gar-

dens in the world; will rival Holland,and become a means for extension ofthe peak tourist season. While Jammu& Kashmir is primarily renowned forits scenic splendor, the Governmentis taking measures to exploit the po-tential of all segments of tourism. ■

tage and it has also got a number ofimportant tourist attractions. The aimof the government is to develop fa-cilities for tourists at different loca-tions for their convenience and alsoto attract more tourists. The govern-ment has also initiated the policy ofinviting private participation.

Our initiatives include: Eco-tour-ism development for which two im-portant projects have been sanc-tioned by the GoI, MoT. They are de-velopment of Kolleru lake in EastGodavari district and Pulicat lake inNellore district. Development of tour-ist infrastructure facilities at HorsleyHills has been proposed at a total costof Rs 591.33 lakhs. Many more are inthe pipeline. Other projects are de-velopment of tourism at Kolleru lakeunder Eco tourism at a cost of Rs862.48 lakhs; infrastructure develop-ment works at Bhadrakali Temple asurban tourism project, Developmentof Heritage circuit at Tirupathi Re-gion; Tourist Infrastructure and Con-servation Plan for Historic Core,Development works at PadmakshiTemple, Warangal; Development ofAnantharam Village, Mahabubabad,development of Adventure Tourismat Puligundu, Chittoor; and VanaSamrakshana Samithi are the fewidentified among the eight Eco-tour-ism destinations.■

Karnataka

tourism in developing the economy.Tourism has helped in providing em-ployment not only to skilled profes-sionals but also to local artisans andcrafts people. It has also helped in the

distribution of income across crosssections of the society. In a nutshell,tourism has gained the required fo-cus and attention.

Over the last two years, we havebeen able to market ourselves aggres-sively and this has helped attract theattention of the media. Eco tourismdevelopment in the state has beengaining momentum.

The latest initiative from the De-partment of Tourism, the GoldenChariot, has joined the select band-wagon of luxury trains of the world.The Athithi or the homestay concepthas also been a great success. Thedraft for the ecotourism policy isready.

We would like to bring to the tour-ist the experience of nature walks,trekking and other activities withoutaffecting the natural environment.■